


Thanks For Pushing

by JustALifelongPhase



Series: We Love Through Hate [4]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Completely and utterly shameless fluff, F/F, Some John/Joss but not the main focus, at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 06:39:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17401913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALifelongPhase/pseuds/JustALifelongPhase
Summary: Shoot ends up being a little family. And they have dinner. Yeah that's pretty much it.





	Thanks For Pushing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks! So chronologically speaking, I think this is the last one? I keep mentally yoyoing between "yeah this ending is fine" and "Huh. Is this really okay?" But I was driving myself insane so I'll just post and hope you enjoy it?
> 
> Also Hi. It's been a while.
> 
> End of chapter notes will give some hope for more of this universe though!

Shaw was fidgeting in the driver’s seat. Again. Root put her hand on Shaw’s knee.

“Sameen, relax. It’s Gen.”

“I am relaxed.” Shaw told her. Root snorted,

“Sure you are.” She traced gentle patterns over Shaw’s leg and slowly Shaw’s muscles actually relaxed. She was almost back to normal by the time Gen finally left her foster house and bounced to the car. Shaw’s muscles immediately bunched again and she resumed her fidgeting. Root sighed and moved her hand from Shaw’s leg.

They had tried to keep their adoption efforts a secret from Gen, not wanting to get her hopes up if something went wrong. It had taken a few weeks, and some strings Iris pulled, but they managed to make it almost official. They just had to go to the court and finalize it. They had a date set for three days later and it was time to tell Gen. Or rather, ask Gen. They had both agreed that it would be better to give the girl some autonomy. So they were taking Gen out for ice cream.

“Hey kiddo, how’s it going?” Root asked. Gen smiled,

“Pretty good. Math is easier since you started helping.” Root beamed at the child as Shaw started backing the car out. 

“See? Told you math is fun!” Gen wrinkled her nose.

“I wouldn’t go  _ that _ far. Are you okay, Shaw? You’re even quieter than normal.” Gen peered at Shaw.

“Fine.” Shaw said tersely. Root spoke up,

“She just has a lot on her mind. She’ll be fine once we get some ice cream in her.” Gen nodded sagely,

“Ice cream makes everything better.”

The ride was fairly quiet and Shaw didn’t speak again until they were seated at the table with their respective orders. Root found it quite endearing, the way Shaw would never admit, maybe couldn’t even tell herself, that she was a bundle of nerves, yet here she was. Tapping fingers, shifting eyes, as though she could find an escape from her own emotions.

“So, kid.” Shaw said, “Uh...your foster parents. How are they?” Gen shrugged,

“Well they’re not super mean or anything. They’re just kind of  _ there _ I guess. Why?”

“Because they uh, usually only do short term fosters. You’ve been there a while, you know? So...” Shaw was hesitating, not used to this particular type of conversation. Gen’s eyes widened,

“Are they moving me? Will it be too far away for you to visit me? Will I never see you again?” The girl was getting distressed and Shaw looked to Root, a silent question in her eyes. Root immediately reached out and took one of the girl’s hands.

“No, no! That’s not what’s happening. You’re definitely going to keep seeing us both. Gen, Sameen was asking these questions because  _ we _ want to adopt you!” Gen looked at them both with wide eyes, still slightly shimmering from the tears she hadn’t had a chance to shed yet,

“You want to adopt me?” She seemed to direct the question more at Shaw, who gave a jerky nod.

“Yeah, kid. Didn’t want to tell you until we knew it could happen. But uh, if that’s something you want, we could, you know. Adopt you, I guess. If you don’t want us to though-” Gen practically jumped out of her chair, 

“No! I want you to! You guys would be like, the best moms ever! Can I really come live with you? You’ll really adopt me? Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” Root said solemnly, holding out her little finger, Gen eagerly hooked it in her own before holding out her other hand, pinky outstretched for Shaw,

“You too?” Shaw looked at the hand for a long moment before hooking her finger in Gen’s,

“Sure kid. Pinky promise.” Gen beamed at them, before retrieving her hands and taking a big bite of her ice cream.

“So when can I come live with you guys?” She asked. Shaw and Root looked at eachother,

“Well, we can officially adopt you in three days.” Root told her while Shaw “You’ll have to come to court and answer a few questions. And then you’ll be ours! But if you want, you can stay with us until then. We cleared it with Iris and everyone who needs to know.”

“We have some bags in the trunk for you to pack your things in, if you need them.” Shaw said through a mouthful of ice cream, “Or if you want to wait until the hearing we can get you moved in then.”

“I wanna go now, please!” Gen was practically buzzing with excitement. Shaw raised an eyebrow at Root,

“If the kid’s gonna be this energetic we might need to cut down on her sugar intake.” Gen stuck her tongue out at Shaw,

“Why would you do that when ice cream is amazing?”

“Fair point, kid.” Shaw told her. “Come on, finish yours and we can get you all moved in.”

Gen and Shaw proceeded to have an unofficial race to finish their ice cream. Shaw tossed her spoon into her bowl with a clatter, raising her arms in triumph. Gen pouted,

“Not fair. I got brain freeze.” Shaw smiled,

“Totally fair. To win you just don’t get brain freeze.” Gen scrunched up her nose,

“That is a really stupid rule.”

\---

“So, this is your room.” Shaw led Gen into the room that had been hers when she first moved in with Root. She had ended up migrating to Root’s room so soon after they started dating that her room had hardly ever been used in that time. It had been fairly easy to turn it into a kid’s room. Gen put her small bag on the bed and for a moment Shaw was reminded of when Root used to come stay as a kid. But Gen wasn’t going back after a few weeks or months. She was sticking around.

“Hey, Shaw?” Gen asked, interrupting Shaw’s reminiscing,

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Do you really want to adopt me? You’re not just feeling sorry for me?” Shaw blinked for several moments,

“Why would you think we’d adopt you cause we felt sorry for you?” She asked, genuinely nonplussed. Gen shrugged,

“You know, I’m in foster care, and I know that they usually don’t take long term fosters, and I know that usually kids as old as me don’t get adopted. I looked it up. So, I thought maybe you were just feeling sorry for me.” Shaw snorted,

“Kid, I don’t think I’ve ever felt sorry for anyone. I uh, like having you around. So does Root. We decided to adopt you because we want to. Anyway, Root’s cooking so unless you ate too much ice cream there’ll be dinner soon...” Shaw stopped talking when Gen’s small arms wrapped around her waist in a quick hug before the girl pulled away.

“Uh, what was that for?” Shaw asked. Gen smiled,

“It’s because I like having you around too.” She said, before leaving the room to go see what Root was cooking. Shaw stared after her for a moment. She didn’t notice that she had a small smile on her lips.

\---

Family court went quickly and smoothly. When they asked if they’d like their picture taken at the end, Gen and Root quickly said yes before Shaw could say anything. Root grinned afterwards,

“These are going on the christmas cards too!” She told Shaw. Shaw raised an eyebrow,

“Right next to the two of us in the underground fight ring in Germany?”

“Absolutely!” Root nodded as though it were the most natural decision in the world. Gen turned to Shaw,

“You guys went to an underground fight ring on your honeymoon? You didn’t tell me that part!” Shaw shrugged a shoulder,

“Not much to tell. We kicked ass.” She told her. Gen laughed before turning to Root,

“Root! You gotta show me the picture!”

Root pulled out her phone and eagerly scrolled through her photos. Shaw rolled her eyes at her wife and...daughter. That was going to take some getting used to. Wife and daughter. She couldn’t help but let out a small snort of laughter at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Root asked. Shaw shrugged,

“I uh...if you’d told me in college, or high school, or even just a couple of years ago that I’d end up getting married and adopting a kid...” Shaw shrugged, “It’s not bad. Just not what I expected.”

“I didn’t expect to get adopted by a cop and her wife.” Gen stated. Shaw nodded,

“We live pretty weird lives, huh, kid?” That made Gen laugh.

The tiny little part that Shaw never listened to was practically weeping with joy, excitement, contentment. She still didn’t listen, her expression her usual inscrutable scowl. Something about the way Root was smiling softly at her made it seem like her wife knew what that part was feeling, though.

“So what are we gonna do now, just go home?” Gen asked. Root smiled,

“Actually, since you have grandparents now, Harold and Grace wanted all of us to come over for dinner.” Root told her. “I think Sameen’s brother and his girlfriend will probably be there as well.”

“Do me a favour, kid,” Shaw said, “First thing you say to him, call him ‘Uncle John.’ He won’t expect it at all. Try to make sure it’s when he’s eating, I want to see how far he spits the food.”

“Should I really do that to him?” Gen asked Root, Root smiled,

“Normally I would say not to listen to her when she wants you to make someone do a spit take. With John...absolutely. Do it.”

“You two are already being a terrible influence on a young girl.” Gen declared. Shaw shrugged,

“Court cleared us to be parents. Blame them.”

\---

Their first family dinner was...amusing. Gen took the first opportunity she had while John’s mouth was full to immediately ask,

“Uncle John, did you and Shaw always get along?”

Shaw gave an evil smirk when John’s food sprayed across the table right at Finch. She noticed Root subtly fist-bump Gen under the table.

“Something wrong?” Gen asked innocently. John eyed Shaw and Root’s expressions suspiciously before turning to Grace,

“Mom, they’re already turning an innocent child evil.” He said.

“I haven’t seen anything ‘evil’ except your table manners, John.” Grace told him, “Honestly, I thought I raised you better!” She shot Shaw a wink while John wiped his face. Shaw snorted, Grace could get in her own shots when she wanted.

“Don’t blame yourself. Sometimes I think he’s completely hopeless.” Joss told Grace. John gave her a betrayed puppy eye look and Shaw mimed gagging into her plate. He turned to glare at her,

“You don’t get to say  _ we’re  _ gross. You got married!” John told her. Shaw shrugged,

“Yeah, and we all know how insane that is. So what’re  _ you _ waiting for?” John went red and Root took Shaw’s hand.

“Aw, Sameen, you say the sweetest things.” Gen smiled at them before turning to the rest of the table.

“We’re gonna be the weirdest family ever.” She seemed oddly proud of the statement.

When dinner finished up John and Joss left, they both had to be at work early the next day. Shaw volunteered to clean up, and when Root offered to help too she waved her away.

“You’re probably suffering from withdrawal from not nerding out with Finch.” She told her. Root grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek before going with Gen to his office. Shaw and Grace cleared the table and got started on the dishes. There weren’t too many, Grace was good at cleaning while she cooked. They cleaned in silence for a few minutes before Grace spoke up,

“I’m happy for you.” Shaw nodded,

“Yeah, uh, things are good.” Her response made Grace laugh,

“I know they are. I don’t need to worry about you so much, it’s nice.”

“Why would you worry? Even when bad stuff happens it’s not like it really bothers me. Seems like a good thing.” Shaw pointed out. She didn’t hear the part of her that hated the thought of  _ anyone _ taking away what she had now. Grace gave her a small smile,

“Just because you don’t realize it bothers you doesn’t mean you don’t feel it in some way. And I’m your mother, I’ll always worry about you. I worried that you wouldn’t let yourself have any joy because you wouldn’t be able to recognize it when it came. But even if you don’t notice it, the people who care about you can all tell that you really are happy, in your own way.”

Shaw wasn’t really sure how to answer that, but that never mattered with Grace. They finished cleaning up then Grace gave her a smile,

“Now, let’s go get our spouses, or they’ll stay in that office all night and Gen will never get to bed.” Shaw nodded and followed Grace to the office. Gen looked up when Shaw came in,

“Finch was telling me how real-life spy tech works!” She declared happily. Shaw nodded,

“Yeah, he’s good with stuff like that. You might want to talk more another time though, it’s getting late.” Gen pouted slightly, but got up to leave. Root raised herself out of her chair and followed, before she could leave the room, Grace took her arm and whispered something in her ear that made Root smile and blush slightly. Shaw shrugged it off and followed her wife and their new kid out the door.

Gen fell asleep on the way home, and Shaw carried her upstairs, which made Root laugh.

“She’s almost as big as you are!” She hissed through a fit of stifled giggles. Shaw just glared at her until Root unlocked the apartment door and Shaw put Gen into her bed.

“So what did Grace tell you?” Shaw asked once they were in their own room. Root smiled,

“She said ‘thank you for pushing Shaw.’”

Shaw snorted, then surprised Root by pulling her into a long kiss. Root opened her eyes once they separated,

“What was that for?” She asked, slightly breathlessly. Shaw smirked at her.

“For pushing.”

**Author's Note:**

> Again, sorry for the really really long hiatus. Stuff happened, I got promoted, I worked hard, I did social things which was nice but weird, worked hard some more. Worked a lot on an original work, which I will hopefully finish and attempt to get published. But I digress:
> 
> I know I said this was the last one CHRONOLOGICALLY, but as we all know, there are a bunch of time skips in the series. So I'll probably post a collection of short chapters that fill in some of the blanks! If there's a particular blank you want to see filled in, feel free to drop a prompt in my tumblr (PhaseWriter) and I'll see what I can do!


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